About This Section
This section collects previous-year Board examination questions (CBSE and State Boards) from Chapter 1, with model answers, to show the pattern and depth expected in the exam.
Board PYQ — Very Short Answer (1 mark)
Q1. Who remarked, 'When France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold'? Ans. Duke Metternich.
Q2. What does the crown of oak leaves on Germania symbolise? Ans. Heroism.
Q3. Which treaty recognised Greece as an independent nation? Ans. The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832.
Board PYQ — Short Answer (3 marks)
Q4. What were the economic hardships faced by Europe in the 1830s? Ans. There was an enormous rise in population with more job-seekers than jobs, forcing migration to overcrowded city slums. Small town producers faced competition from cheap English machine-made goods, and peasants bore the burden of feudal dues. Bad harvests and rising food prices caused widespread pauperism.
Q5. Explain any three beliefs of the conservatives after 1815. Ans. Conservatives believed that traditional institutions — monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and the family — should be preserved; that a return to the pre-revolutionary past was not needed; and that modernisation (a modern army, efficient bureaucracy, the abolition of serfdom) could actually strengthen monarchy.
Board PYQ — Short Answer (3 marks)
Q6. What did economic liberalism aim at? How did the zollverein serve it? Ans. Economic liberalism aimed at the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital. The zollverein (1834) served this by abolishing tariff barriers among the German states and reducing the currencies from over thirty to two, creating a unified economic territory.
Q7. How did the Greek war of independence mobilise nationalist feeling in Europe? Ans. Greece's struggle (from 1821) against the Ottoman Empire won the sympathy of West Europeans who admired ancient Greek culture; poets and artists hailed Greece as the cradle of European civilisation, and figures like Lord Byron raised funds and fought, mobilising public opinion until the Treaty of Constantinople (1832).
Board PYQ — Long Answer (5 marks)
Q8. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people? Ans. They introduced the ideas of la patrie and le citoyen; adopted a new tricolour flag; renamed the Estates General the National Assembly; composed hymns, took oaths and honoured martyrs; set up a centralised administration with uniform laws; abolished internal customs duties and adopted uniform weights and measures; and made French the common language. They also declared it France's mission to liberate the peoples of Europe.
Q9. Describe the role of Otto von Bismarck and the army in the making of Germany. Ans. After 1848, Prussia led German unification. Its chief minister Otto von Bismarck was the architect of the process, using the Prussian army and bureaucracy. He fought three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and France, all ending in Prussian victory, and on 18 January 1871 the Prussian king William I was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles — showing that the army had become the architect of the nation.